The Green Revolution of the 1960s, which led to new advances that brought millions of people from the brink of starvation, was a direct result of U.S.-India collaboration in agriculture. Those advances, however, failed to reach many areas in eastern India. Moreover, climate change, population pressure, and stagnating agricultural productivity growth threaten to undo the gains achieved in recent decades. India is home to 17 percent of the world’s population, but only three percent of the world's arable land. Sixty percent of the population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. A renewed effort to develop agriculture is needed to help improve India’s food security and reduce the number of poor. Moreover, because India’s agricultural purchases on the world market significantly influence world prices and availability, improving agricultural productivity in India will mitigate global food shortages and price fluctuations. India ranks among the top five countries in the world affected by natural disasters. Floods and droughts can greatly reduce agricultural production, affecting fragile food security ecosystems.
USAID'S RESPONSE
In recognition of India’s unique position as an emerging global power – one that is on the forefront of the fight against hunger – USAID is launching a new partnership that brings together the capabilities of the U.S. and India to address poverty and hunger in India and around the world. A radical transformation of the agricultural sector is needed – one that copes with climate change and food security and transitions towards sustainability. As the world renowned Indian scientist Professor M.S. Swaminathan recently said, “novel solutions and technological advances must be married with ecological thinking to drive a truly sustainable agricultural revolution.”
For the production growth needed to ensure food security, USAID will help improve agricultural technologies and innovations that reach smallholder farmers, including those innovations that address climate change. Better focused and more cost-effective interventions that accelerate the development and deployment of new technologies and sustainable food systems will be introduced.
KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Partnerships for Innovation and Knowledge (PIKA): USAID provided technical assistance to increase farmer’s incomes through the promotion of resource-efficient, demand-driven, and market-led agricultural systems. The program collaborated across a variety of private and public partners, which enabled some 240,000 farmers to increase yields 15 to 20 percent, and contributed to the uptake of new technologies beyond project areas; while helping dairy, fruit, and vegetable producers’ access markets that offered higher returns. Additionally, detailed market research helped agribusinesses tailor their products and services to fit needs of smallholder farmers and to expand businesses by harnessing untapped market opportunities.
Food, Agriculture, and Rural Market Systems (FARMS) project will increase the income of the rural poor by increasing agricultural productivity and improved farm management systems. It will identify, evaluate, and pilot innovative best practices that will have the greatest catalytic effect for improving food security and by building institutional and human capacity to apply knowledge, innovations, and research to the challenges of food security and nutrition.
Agricultural Innovations Partnership (AIP) aims to reduce poverty and hunger in India by improving farmers’ access to the latest agricultural knowledge. By assisting agriculture universities to provide their graduates with practical exposure to modern farming technologies and management practices, the partnership will improve responses to demand for agriculture extension and markets. This partnership includes state agricultural universities in India, the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, and Cornell University that leads the U.S. consortium of universities including University of Illinois; Ohio State University; University of Georgia; Tuskegee University; University of California, Davis in partnership with private enterprises such as John Deere, Sathguru Management Consultants, and Tata Chemicals Limited.
Cereal Systems Initiative For South Asia (CSISA): is jointly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID to improve cropping systems by integrating cutting edge innovations (such as genetics and information communications technology) with resource conserving practices that deliver productivity, income and sustainability/ resilience gains for farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the “breadbasket” of India.
Disaster Management Project: USAID has been partnering with the Government of India on a successful program designed to address the challenges of disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. This partnership has helped the U.S. and India work together to share experiences and expertise, and identify requirements for establishing a successful and integrated disaster management system in India. The partnership draws on a range of U.S. government partners such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey to provide expertise and exchange information with Indian counterparts. In the current phase of the project, USAID/India, along with Government of India’s (GOI) Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is the focal Ministry for initiatives related to DMS, will implement climate adaptation strategies that will reduce the effects of disasters.
